Some laptops are decked out to the nines, offering top-of-the-line parts both outside and in for a premium price.

Others are aimed more squarely at folks on a budget who are mostly concerned with getting a capable a computer without denting their wallet too much.

I recently spent some time testing out the HP Pavilion Sleekbook 15, a machine squarely in the more affordable category, and Iím back with a full report on how it performed.

LOOKS

The Sleekbook 15 is a larger machine, sporting a 15.6-inch screen.Its overall dimensions are 15.9 x 10.2 x .83 in, and its weight comes in a slightly hefty but not overwhelming 4.6 pounds. That means itís pretty portable, but not quite as much as a lot of the new ultrabooks released in the past couple of years.

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This being a budget laptop, the materials used are not as high-quality as youíll find on HPís upper-level lines such as their EliteBook machines. Itís pretty much all plastic, but HP tries to add to the Sleekbookís appeal by giving the black version a bit of sparkle. There are also red and blue color options which donít have the sparkly look and instead have a bit of a pattern embedded.

DISPLAY

The 15.6-inch display features HD BrightView and is LED-backlit with a resolution of 1366x768. This is the only resolution offered on the Sleekbook 15. HP does offer other computers with the option for a full HD display, but not in this line.

The overall screen quality is acceptable, but not the best youíll find. Itís well in line with the expectations I have for a machine on the lower end of the price scale.

KEYBOARD, TOUCHPAD

Due to the larger size of the Sleebook 15, you are able to get a full-size keyboard and a complete number pad on the right for faster data entry.The touchpad is quite responsive, and I experienced very little accidental movement of the cursor. There is a small dimple on the top left of the touchpad you can double-click that allows you to turn the touchpad on and off, should you be using an external mouse.

OPERATING SYSTEM

HP offers the Sleekbook 15 with Windows 8, but you can upgrade to Windows 8 Professional if thatís your preference. There are a lot of things I like about Windows 8 (the start screen and easy searching for programs, for example), and a lot of things I donít like (odd placement of power on/off controls, for example), but like it or not Windows 8 is what PC users need to get used to now that itís here.

WEBCAM, AUDIO

The Sleekbook comes with a 720p HP TrueVision HD Webcam that is designed to work well in lower light situations like a home office.

Now letís get to the guts of the machine, which is what really counts. Itís got to perform in the end, after all.

First letís get into the processor. The Sleekbook 15 features a variety of AMD processor options, which arenít quite as impressive as the Intel processors offered on higher-end machines.

My machine featured an AMD Quad-Core A8-4555M processor that for the most part worked really well in terms of keeping things running smoothly on the machine. It also featured HD 7500G Discrete-Class Graphics.

This is on the higher end of the processor offerings, and you can go down to as low as an AMD dual-core A4 processor, but your machine wonít be as snappy if you do so.

While no version of the Sleekbook 15 is ideal for serious gaming or intense video editing work, the A8 processor can handle some lower-end gaming and photo/video editing.

If you are strictly using our computer for things like email and web surfing, you can stick with the A4 processor.

My machine had just 4GB of memory, but it served me well for the most part as I was able to multitask without too many delays. If youíre going to work this machine more intensely, you can upgrade to 6GB or 8GB of RAM.

Finally, in the area of storage, you have a ton of options here, but they are all regular spindle hard drives. No solid state options are included, for cost reasons, as SSD drives are pricier and this is a budget line.

Hard drive options range from 500 GB up to a full terabyte, so whatever you need to store youíll no doubt have room for on this machine.

HP FEATURES

One helpful feature thatís included here is HPís ProtectSmart, which protects the computerís hard drive if the machine is disturbed. It does this by parking the hard drive to protect data, by sensing motion and planning ahead.

Coolsense is another feature that uses an accelerometer to recognize motion. So if the machine is on your lap it will move to an optimized cooling mode that keeps external surfaces cooler and moreconfortable to hold, a sort of air conditioning for your laptop. No one likes a hot laptop so this is a helpful feature.

PORTS

Due to the thinness of the machine, you get no optical disc drive, though you can choose an optional external drive if you plan to use discs.

There is a nice array of ports here, including: 2 USB 3.0; 1 USB 2.0; 1 HDMI; 1 RJ45 (Ethernet); and a headphone-out/microphone-in port. There is also a multi-format digital media card reader.

SECURITY

The Sleekbook 15 comes with Norton Internet Security 2013 included for 60 days, then you must renew the subscription, which is of course a wise move unless you have some other security program you can install in its place.

BATTERY LIFE

There is only one battery size offered on the Sleekbook 15, a four-cell lithium ion battery. You can buy a spare for about $40 and easily change out the battery since it is removable.

The battery is listed as having four hours of life, but my experience was closer to 3Ĺ hours.

PRICE

The base model of the Sleekbook (with an A4 processor, 4 GB of RAM and 500 GB of storage) will cost you $479.99 (and at one point I saw it on sale for $399.99 on the HP website, so keep an eye out for deals). This is a pretty good deal for a machine like this thatís pretty capable overall, just made with less costly materials and processor options.

You can configure the machine in many ways on the HP website (changing color, or upgrading the operating system processor, storage, RAM, etc.), and the price will go higher if you max out its capability.

BOTTOM LINE

This would be a quality option to consider for students who are on a budget and need a machine for both school and pleasure, but canít afford the fancy machines many of their friends might have.

It would also work for anyone who just wants a computer that has a simple design, is somewhat portable but still has a large keyboard and will let them do basic computing at home and keep them connected to their email, social networks, etc.

Youíre going to miss out on top-notch materials, top-notch audio and full-HD screen resolution, but itís not really supposed to have those things for such a low price.

If youíre not looking for fancy and just want capable, the HP Pavilion Sleekbook 15 definitely belongs on your list of computers to consider.